President Donald Trump stood at the site of the new helipad he is installing at the White House and said: “You know, grass has a life like humans have a life. This is all going to be, right now, it’s put in, if you come back in two weeks, three weeks, it’s in shock. But you come back in two or three weeks, this has all been redone, it’s all been topsoiled. In other words, we put topsoil, brand new earth on top. Very, you know, very, a lot of good ingredients in that earth for grass. If you’re grass, you’re very happy.”
Trump added: “This grass is the highest quality, it was given free of charge by Scotts Miracle-Gro, Scotts. And Scotts is a great company. They actually contributed to my campaign, I must be honest, you’ll figure that one out. And they said to me, ‘sir, we’d like to replace the grass at the White House with the highest quality of grass and do a real job. So, Scotts, I want to thank Scotts Miracle-Gro.”
[NOTE: Trump did not specify which campaign contribution he was referring to, but the $1 million was directed specifically toward White House grounds restoration, not a campaign.]
Trump: You know, grass has a life like humans have a life. This has all been redone, it’s all topsoiled. Lot of good ingredients. If you’re grass, you’re very happy. It was given, free of charge, by Scotts Miracle-Gro. They actually contributed to my campaign. So I wanna thank… pic.twitter.com/uXPYQly9Cw
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) August 19, 2026
Trump added of Scotts: “I think the biggest grass company in the world, somebody said, but it’s very big and very good, and the owners are fantastic people, and I want to thank them.”
[NOTE: Earlier this month, Trump gave Scotts a similar “plug” in the Oval Office. As seen below, he said: “I gotta give them a plug.”]
The President promotes Scotts Miracle-Gro in the middle of an Oval Office event:
The best grass you can get. Scotts, you know Scotts? Scott’s Miracle-Gro, they’re doing it. They do great grass. I got to give him a plug because they did the White House for free. pic.twitter.com/g5Qi88wl2f
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 3, 2026
In June, Scotts Miracle-Gro CEO and board chairman Jim Hagedorn stepped down from his positions after working for the Maryland-based company for nearly 40 years. Hagedorn, 70, was the CEO of Scotts Miracle-Gro for the past 25 years. Hagedorn recruited CFO Nate Baxter, 53, in 2023 to succeed him as chief executive.
NPR/PBS station WOSU reported on the Scotts Miracle-Gro transition: “This leadership change comes after Scotts Miracle-Gro gave $1 million to the National Park Service to restore the White House South Lawn after a UFC event was held there on June 14.”
[NOTE: The company described the contribution as “a combination of monetary and product support,” including a custom turfgrass blend and technical support from its research and development team.]
Scotts Miracle-Gro stock shot up after Trump said this https://t.co/KEkBthqUOC pic.twitter.com/cLbHaDBCYz
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) August 19, 2026